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Ambrose Everett Burnside made his mark in history as a famous battlefield commander during the American Civil War. Today, collectors of antique firearms better remember him for the handy cavalry carbine that he invented and had manufactured, a carbine that played a large part in arming Federal cavalrymen during that war. Getting the first 300 of those carbines fabricated drove Burnside into bankruptcy in 1857, and he then changed careers. The demand for good arms with the coming of the war quickly changed penury to profit: nearly 59,000 of the carbines of his design were ultimately produced, garnering over $2 million dollars for the two companies which made them. This book is the story of the design and production of the five different variations of the Burnside carbine, and the cartridges, tools and accouterments furnished with them. "Noted arms historian Ed Hull has produced his latest 'Collector's Guide to Firearms,' and it is a most compelling and complete study of Civil War era Burnside Carbines and Rifles. This author has studied these unique breechloading firearms for many decades now, and this 173-page book covers all prototypes and production models, related Burnside ammunition and associated accoutrements. Students and collectors of Civil War weaponry will appreciate how complete and reliable this work is." Roy Marcot, author of "Spencer repeating Firearms" “Once again, longtime firearms student and writer Edward Hull has written a fine book that expands upon the one he originally wrote in 1986 on the same subject…It would make for a wonderful addition to the library of the arms collector….” Frank Graves, ARMS HERITAGE MAGAZINE

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Well researched, highly detailed as to evolution of the various models and government contracts and deliveries. But I was hoping to find some data as to comments from the field by users of Burnsides. My copy of the author's earlier volume on Burnsides wasn't readily available so perhaps such information was found there, although it would have been appropriate to have included some such information in this updated volume. Also, a chart showing serial number allocations to the various models would have been useful as a quick reference.

An excellent book, however I was disappointed with the allocation details of these to their units, that I was given to understand from else-where was quite detailed. That said, if the information is not available it can't be included. An interesting and informative book, and more competitively priced than the 1st. issue hardback.

Excellent review of the Burnside Carbine. After reading it, I was able to locate a copy of the original Hull book (had to borrow it from a library). Almost everything you need to know is in this book, and at a very reasonable price.

Once again, longtime firearms student and writer Edward Hull has written a fine book that expands upon the one that he originally wrote in 1986 on the same subject that is currently out of print. As he states in his preface, due to access of various collections as well as the powerful research now available through the Internet, he felt compelled to update the previous book by providing additional details of the Burnside carbines and rifles with their development and history.

Ambrose E. Burnside certainly was an energetic and creative man who was the innovator of this well known longarms that was the third most manufactured carbine of the Civil War. Despite the fact that he went bankrupt early in its inception, he was able to come back strong and be responsible for the manufacture of some 57,000 to 59,000 longarms with 54,000 carbines delivered to the military.

This book observes the same model numbers previously established and fully and further describes the development and production of each with very interesting first account letters from the many governmental ordnance officials that very clearly show how each successive model was developed. There are many copies of photographic images of the day showing soldiers holding the various models that always adds interest to these publications. Additionally, many patent papers are reproduced that will assist the reader in seeing how the models progressed and how they worked. The letters of various ordnance officers are especially interesting and insightful.

This high quality book is softbound with an interesting color cover. It would make for a wonderful addition to the library of the arms collector, especially those that have the previous book on the same subject by this same author.